Wendi Painting, oil sketch, 10x8" plein air, ©Diane Mannion
MNEME
(Pronounced NEMMA
rhymes with Emma)
Last year… the first time I met Wendi, I didn’t know I was
painting next to one of those rare angels!
Painting at the Punta Gorda Environmental Park with the
Peace River Painters, I included Wendi in my plein air oil sketch (above) and decided
to give it to her later after I photographed it and let it dry. Drove around with it all season and never
bumped into her again.
I usually have a good reason to gift a painting, but this
time I thought it was just because it was a sketch of Wendi and she was happy I
didn’t make her butt look big! Little
did I know that she really deserved my painting! Finally found her this season and learned
that Wendi C Smith is a certified Mneme
Therapist.
So what’s Mneme? The
mneme therapy, named after the Greek mother of the muse (inspiration fairy that
buzzes around artist’s heads), is also related to memory, as in mnemonic device
(hooks to help remember things).
In Wendi’s words:
“I work with elders with Alzheimer’s and Dementia as well as
folks who have had strokes or accidents and children on the Autism
spectrum. I give my clients/artists a
choice of 10 Mneme Therapy paintings from my “Inspiration Book.”
Wendi used one of my paintings in her “Inspiration Book”
because it evokes JOY! (I was pleased to
hear this!) Here’s a story of how it
worked with one woman in Wendi’s words:
“My client, Pat is 65 years old and resides at Life Care
Center of Punta Gorda. Pat broke her
back a number of years ago but it has not broken her spirit. When I arrive with my painting supplies she
is the first to ask if she could paint today.
Every stroke in the painting is set up to stimulate
different areas of the brain to hopefully cause a synapse and build new
pathways in the brain. So Pat chose your
sample painting (my version of your painting after changing brush strokes to
include strokes needed in all MT paintings).
It took Pat 30 minutes to complete. It was framed and hung at our Art Without
Boundaries Exhibit last March at the Visual Art Center. Pat was extremely proud! She still shows it off to visitors at Life
Care.”
Pat and her painting
My painting that inspired Pat's
My hug from Wendi after giving her the sketch
Wendi and me
More Mneme info:
Thanks to Sharon Yarbrough and Susan Hoffman for the photos!
2 comments:
I love what she is doing and your instinct to seek her out. Art is therapy, I can not advocate that enough. Art brings you back to where you were always supposed to be. Thanks for sharing such an awesome story.
Lisa! Love your comment, especially… "Art brings you back to where you were always supposed to be."
Thank you.
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